Wolfpack #6 (January 1989)

It's that time again! It's time to rejoin the Wolfpack as they engage in their battle against the Nine. Last time, the Pack took on a drug lord, Rafael's little brother Junior learns that the drug dealer life isn't worth the danger, Sharon's family takes in an abused boy named Malcolm Brown, and Slag finds a girlfriend. So, yeah. Quite a bit of drama in the last issue. So, what's going to happen next? Let's find out in Wolfpack #6!

The cover is a Ron Wilson and Chris Ivy piece. I think it's really cool. It looks like the poster of a horror movie, with the cowering kids, the only light source being a candle, and the hand dripping with blood reaching for them. You get the vibe that this is going to be a very scary issue, with the Pack dealing with a monster of some kind. Or a slasher villain.

"13-13 Haunted Ave."
Writers: Ron Wilson and John Figueroa
Penciler: Ron Wilson
Inker: Chris Ivy
Colorist: Max Scheele
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with Malcolm Brown in his family's home. He's tied to his bed, and he looks like he's gotten the tar beaten out of him. Which...yeah. I can imagine. I can imagine the kid's old man was not too happy with Sharon and her father giving the boy an oasis from his home troubles, and he took it out on the kid. Despite this, he's hanging tough. He believes in the Wolfpack, that they'll save him. And his faith is very much rewarded. 

Yup, the Pack are here on a rescue mission. They're going to get Malcolm out of there. 

Rafael and Slippery Sam look around the Browns' home. And squalor is a kind way of describing the Browns' home. the home has no electricity, no gas, and presumably no water. There's not even any food in the fridge. Not like it could keep any food cold with no power. Rafael and Sam do find drug paraphernalia, showing where the family's money goes. 

The Pack are ready to get Malcolm out of there, but Sam points out that this will open the Pack up to further problems, mainly that Browns can charge them with kidnapping. Also, this has nothing to do with the Pack's ultimate mission: Stopping the Nine. Slag and Sharon disagree. Going to proper channels here could take too long. And the system may end up failing Malcolm. Also, Slag sees the point of the Pack's mission is to protect people. People including Malcolm.

Elsewhere, a group of masked robbers are meeting in a house. The leader, the skull-masked...Skull believes one of their own ratted them out to the cops. He kills the supposed squealer and the crew ditch the body by throwing it into the water near the Willis Avenue bridge. 

Back to the Pack! They take Malcolm to Sharon's apartment, where her father...seriously, what is this dude's name? His name was never revealed. You know what? I'm calling him Bill. Bill helps with fixing Malcolm up, as he was a medic in Vietnam...or Siancong nowadays, thanks to the sliding timescale. He wonders what happened to this kid.

He notes that Malcolm is running a fever, and he's got a broken arm. With Malcolm safe for now and on the way to the hospital, the Wolfpack decide to head home for the night. Catch up on some homework and sleep and the like.

Slag notices a woman walking into a bar and realizes it's Malcolm's mother Esther. He follows and confronts her about her and her husband's treatment of their young son. The confrontation gets heated with Slag accusing Esther of not caring about the boy at all. She claims his father beats her too, but the big man does not want to hear it. 

Esther threatens to press charges against Slag and even tries to hit him with a beer bottle. It ends with Esther saying she's a worthless junkie. Slag advises her to get help. If she really cares about Malcolm, she'll try and change her life. 

A few days later, Malcolm meets up with some other kids. They're going to check out the old house on 213th Street. Evidently, it's haunted. Hey, it's the Marvel Universe. There could be a legit ghost in there. Also, another kid found a hundred-dollar bill there. Which means there could be free money. Yeah! Free money!

Malcolm's all in. They head to the house, where it's revealed an old lady used to live there until she passed on. Since then, the house has been pretty much left alone, the only people using it are junkies and thieves. It led to stories that the old house is haunted. 

Over at Slag's house, he introduces his new lady love Tammy to his mother. Mrs. Slagley also has some great news. She's been promoted! 

And after only a week at the job! That is something. She still is unaware that her boss, Crenshaw, is not a good dude, nor is she aware of her son being in a group that's fighting him and his Nine bosses. Over at her place, Sharon notices that Malcolm still hasn't come home, so she goes looking for him. She learns that he's gone to the haunted house.

Speaking of the haunted house, Malcolm and the kids are exploring. Unknown to them, the criminals from earlier have returned, and noticed the kids are there.

Meanwhile, the kids find the criminals' stash of money. Sharon calls up Wheels to gather the pack meet her at the place. The robbers catch up to the kids. They try to fight back with their baseball bats as the Wolfpack sneak into the building. However, the criminals manage to trap most of the kids in a corner, Skull planning to put some bullets in them.

The Pack make their way through the house, taking down the criminals. Slag finds the money stash, and it gets him distracted. One of the criminals tries to put an axe into the big man's spine, but he gets a spooky surprise.

Mr. Mack's ghost also knows your internet history. And he's disgusted.

Evidently, the house is haunted after all. Slag takes the axe-wielder down with a Mighty Punch, and thanks Mr. Mack's ghost. At least now they have confirmation he is dead. I remember in previous issues they thought he vanished, which I found odd. The Wolfpack tie the robbers up. They chastise the kids for exploring this dangrous place on their own...but it did lead to the robbers' capture, so they call them heroes, too. The story ends with Inspector Cassidy taking the robbers to jail. 

I thought this was a neat little story. One thing I did notice was that Rafael Vega seems to be taking on the leader role of the team, when previous issues implied Sam was. I do wish we got that explored a bit more. The "main story" is focused on Malcolm Brown. I liked seeing the kid being rescued from his abusive home. It is understandable why the Pack would take the actions they did. After all, they're in a position to help. I can also understand why some would find the appearance of Mack's ghost a bit jarring. Keep in mind, at this time, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that this book is not set in the Marvel Universe, where things like ghosts are just as real as anything else. And this series has never really delved into the more...fantastical elements of most other Marvel titles. Still, I enjoyed this story, and it did allow the Pack to get some closure about what happened to their mentor.

The art by Ron Wilson has improved here, in my opinion. I have no idea if it's Ivy's inking, but it does look better here. Where it really shines is the closeups. The art of the facial expressions are really good here. And there is some good storytelling here.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2018 trade paperback Wolfpack: The Complete Collection. Thanks for reading this blog entry! See you next time!